Two photos at Chama, New Mexico © Earl Knoob. April 9th meeting at Barnes Hall --- Earl
Knoob will give us a look at photos that he made when he was working
with the Antonito to Chama line in the early 1980's. He will join
us via internet from his home in Arizona. In
1981 he began a nearly 20 year association with the Cumbres &
Toltec Scenic RR. Earl's program outlines the first several years
of his employment, from the demise of the first operator (Scenic
Railways) to the success story of Kyle Railways management. |
We
meet in person for a no cost show at 7:30 pm in Barnes Hall, on the
south side of the church at 2950 S. University Boulevard in Denver,
Colorado. Or Join the Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86251105134?pwd=VWRwRUVCbVoyTzhwMWhYbm5scTlqdz09 Meeting ID: 862 5110 5134 Passcode: 496652 |
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| Upcoming Events: Sunday, May 19th Club Picnic and Steam Up at the Colorado Railroad Museum The
Club has gotten an opportunity for another daytime picnic at the
Colorado Railroad Museum in Golden. On Sunday afternoon, May 19th,
we will have the use of the pavilion at the Museum, and their train
will be steam-powered that weekend. The catered barbecue meal with
side dishes and beverages will be served at about 2:30 pm and our group
train ride should be after the last public train that leaves at 3 pm.
As
with any event using antique equipment, there is the possibility of
changes to the engines and cars that are available.
You and everyone in your party will need to check-in at the ticket window in the Museum store, so please get here a little early and head to the depot building.
We will verify that you are on the list of paid participants and
then put a wristband on you. The wristband is required for
admission, our train ride, and your meal. Please wear your Rocky
Club name tag if you have one. The Museum may have more than one
steam engine hot that day for pictures, and may also be running one or
more of the Galloping Gooses, so there are more reasons to arrive
early. Tickets are $45 per person including the lunch buffet with your choice of BBQ brisket or BBQ pulled chicken. We also plan to have burnt end baked beans, cole slaw, slider buns, individual chip packages, cookies, and Pork Barrel BBQ sauce. There will be water and soft drinks provided. Order tickets on-line by May 10th and pay with a credit card through PayPal on the Club website at: www.rockymtnrrclub.org
We
really hope to do all of this on-line, but if you must use a check then
see Keith at the April 9 meeting, or lastly mail your check in time to
arrive by May 10th to: Rocky Mountain RR Club � May Picnic
PO Box 2391
Denver, CO 80201-2391 Please include attendees name(s) and dinner choice(s) of BBQ Brisket or BBQ pulled chicken with your order. Note: Tickets will not be available after May 10th or at the Museum. This event will take the place of our regular monthly meeting for May. There will not be a meeting at Barnes Hall in May. - - - - - - Rocky Mountain Train Show - Spring 2024 on April 6th & 7th
Sat 8:00 AM - 9:00 AM - for Pre-Registered TCA/NMRA Members
Sat 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM - Public Sun 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM - Public National Western Complex 4655 Humboldt St. Denver, CO 80216 This is not a free event. - - - - - - April - May 2024 CPKC Announces 2024 Steam Tour Schedule Dates |
Amtrak Winter Park Express had good ridership. |
Amtrak's
Winter Park Express (train 1105) had engines 171 and 169 in fresh snow
near Pinecliffe, Colorado, March 3, 2024. ©2024 Chip |
Amtrak's
Winter Park Express (WPE), also known by railroaders as the ski train,
enjoyed great ridership during the 2024 ski season. Amtrak
169 and 171 handled the train in late February into March 2024.
The five car Superliner equiped train featured two baggage coach
cars, the lounge car, and two coaches. |
Amtrak
171 West emerged from tunnel 29 near Pinecliffe, CO, on Union Pacific's
Moffat Tunnel Subdivision March 3, 2024. ©2024 Chip |
Amtrak
174 with Phase VII color scheme came off Amtrak's California Zephyr at
Denver Union Station on March 2nd and was placed on the Amtrak storage
track. The Phase VII livery was first introduced on Siemens ALC-42
locomotives. ©2024 Chip |
Union Pacific Power on BNSF Brush Subdivision |
Union
Pacific power; 6945 AC4460CW, led 3 x 2 UP locomotives on detoured
Tri-State unit coal empty from Arizona to Peabody Coal operated North
Antelope Mine, WY, for loading. This train was on BNSF's Brush
Subdivision near Keenesburg, CO, on Feb 28, 2024. A BNSF crew was
aboard for this move. ©2024 Chip |
BNSF
hosted a Union Pacific powered train from Tri-State operated
Springerville, Arizona, generation plant. Train ran across BNSF's
Brush and Angora Subdivisions February 28, 2024. UP 6945, an
AC4460CW unit, led the 120-car empty unit coal train out of Denver, on
the Brush line towards Alliance, Nebraska. Here is some background information about the Springerville Plant with its diverse ownership; Symbols
used for trains to the plant include SPS, SPT and SPV. I
think the symbols have to do with who is paying for the coal. There are four units at Springerville, Arizona; Unit 1 380 mw built in 1985 Unit 2 380 mw built in 1990 Unit 3 400mw built in 2006 Unit 4 400 mw built in 2009 The site is co-owned by Tucson Electric, Salt River Project and Tri-State Generation. No documentation on who owns what or what percentage each owns. It is set to close in 2032. Train
loaded 120-cars in the Wyoming Powder River Basin. BNSF might
have obtained the contract from UP. BNSF ran train as North
Antelope Mine, WY, to Rincon, NM, train ID C NAMDCH-001A. BNSF
added units on both ends of the train March 4, 2024 at Denver. |
Union
Pacific 8172 was the rear distributed power unit (DPU) on the eastbound
coal empty from Springerville, AZ, headed for the Peabody Coal owned
North Antelope Mine, WY. Water reflection at Barr, CO, on BNSF's
Brush Subdivision, February 8, 2024. ©2024 Chip |
Colorado Governor Polis on special train to Longmont, promoted Front Range passenger service in March 2024 |
On
March 7, the Amtrak train set that was used on weekends for the Winter
Park Express carried an invited group of officials from Denver to
Longmont and back on BNSF rails. On board were Governor Polis of
Colorado, Amtrak's president Roger Harris, and other state and federal
representatives that are interested in developing Front Range Passenger Rail. |
The
VIP inspection train is seen here approaching Broomfield on the BNSF
line between Denver and Fort Collins, Colorado. © 2024 by
Dave Schaaf |
The train is shown here northbound at Niwot, Colorado. © Dave Schaaf |
Who: Governor Polis and the Front Range Passenger Rail District representatives. What:
Join Governor Jared Polis and the Front Range Passenger District hosted
a special Amtrak train. Guests included national and statewide
transit and passenger rail leaders, elected officials, stakeholders and
Amtrak president Roger Harris took a showcase train ride from Denver's
Union Station to Longmont, CO, March 7, 2024. Colorado's Front Range
Passenger Rail District line was recently accepted into the Corridor
I.D. Program bringing Colorado one step closer to the reality of a front
range passenger rail system. When: Thursday, March 7th, 2024 � Guests arrived at Uniion Station 12:30 PM and gathered for a news conference on the train platform. � Train departed at Denver Union SStation at 1:20 PM and arrived in Longmont at 2:45 PM. �� Once the train arrived in Longmont, Governor Polis disembarked for a few announcements and photo ops. |
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Left to right; James Flattum, Colorado Governor Jared Polis, and Roger Bamber at Longmont, CO, March 7, 2024. ©2024 Chip |
Rocket Booster Train on UP's Sidney Subdivision |
Empty
rocket booster cars were part of a 21-car Memphis, Tennessee, to
Pocatello, Idaho, Union Pacific train at Sidney, Nebraska in February
2024. |
Norfolk
Southern 4096, AC44C6M, led Union Pacific's Memphis, Tennessee, to
Pocatello, Idaho, train S MEPC1-23, across Nebraska and Wyoming on
February 26, 2024. Train was stopped at Sidney, NE, and Egbert, WY, to
allow other trains to pass on account of the high/wide concerns.
UP Sidney Subdivision was humming with traffic. The
booster segments contain solid propellant that is quite
flammable. These were empties going back West. There was
recently a delivery to Florida of the booster segments for the NASA
Space Launch System (SLS). Those booster segments were mated with
the Boeing built Core Stage of the SLS at the Vehicle Assembly Building
at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Learn more about the Space Launch System by clicking on the Learn More tab below. |
Norfolk
Southern 4096, AC44C6M, with 21-car empty rocket booster train was held
on the middle track due to high/wide clearance concerns. Passing
trains had to reduce their speed passing the rocket booster special.
Train at Egbert, WY, Feb 26, 2024. Note in upper right
distance the Sidney Local was on the wye. ©2024 Chip |
Proposed Savage Tooele Railroad in Utah |
WASHINGTON
�� Federal regulators have concluded that construction of the proposed
Savage Tooele Railroad in Utah would have no impact on the environment
provided that mitigation measures are followed. The Surface Transportation Board’s Office of Environmental Analysis on Friday (March 2, 2024) released its final environmental assessment
for the proposed short line, which aims to revive Union Pacific’s
former 6-mile Warner Branch, restore a quarter mile of ripped-up track,
and build 5 miles of new track in the Lakeview Business Park, which is
being developed in Grantsville, southwest of Salt Lake City, Utah. The
environmental report recommends that the STB impose 37 voluntary
mitigations that the railroad had proposed, along with 25 additional
mitigation measures. The STB now must rule on the transportation merits of the project. (Info courtesy of Kalmbach Media) |
Former Union Pacific Dome Leaves Colorado |
Former
Union Pacific 7000 dome coach now lettered PAXX 7000 left Denver Rock
Island RR storage on March 7, 2024. Car was interchanged to UP's
North Yard, Denver, CO. UP moved the car via Bailey Yard, North
Platte, NE, ultimately towards Tennessee. Car left UP's North Yard
on the rear of the North Platte, NE, bound train late March 12, 2024.
©2024 Chip |
UP 1943 Veterans Unit March 2024 on Oil Train |
Union
Pacific 1943, SD70AH Veterans unit Support Our Troops, led the Price
River Terminal, Wash, Utah, to St. James, Louisiana, 94-car loaded oil
cans on March 9, 2024. Train was between tunnels 3 (right) and 2
on the Moffat Tunnel Subdivision. ©2024 Chip |
UP
1943 emerged from tunnel 2 with loaded oil cans March 9, 2024.
Unique paint scheme honors Veterans. Train O XPSJ-05 cut off
the rear two DPU's and continued on the Limon Subdivision with the
three units up front. ©2024 Chip |
UP
1943 East on Big 10 Curve rolling down grade towards Rocky Siding west
of Arvada, CO, on March 9, 2024. Loaded and empty oil trains are
more numerous than coal trains on UP's Moffat Tunnel line these days.
©2024 Chip |
BNSF and UP Cut Employees in 2024, commentary from Chip. |
UP has embarked on a furlough odyssey. From the time Jim Vena arrived in August 2023, through January 2024, as shown in UP’s reports to the STB, UP has reduced its operating personnel by 771�this, after cutting 25% of its workforcee in previous years. Every other US Class I has increased employment during the same period. At UP’s 4th quarter earnings call, Mr. Vena promised growth, but at the same time promised to continue to reduce headcount throughout 2024 as he has done continuously since he arrived. Indeed, in late February 2024, UP announced additional furloughs. And the railroads’ year end filings show that UP is the only Class I which ended 2023 with hundreds of fewer workers than it had a year earlier. All of the others, including Norfolk Southern, the only railroad which reported zero furloughs, ended the year with a larger workforce. BNSF only recently (first week of March 2024) has decided to hop on the furlough bandwagon
again�announcing hundreds of new furloughs (Havelock, NE,, Alliance, NE
and Lincoln, NE mechanical hard hit-!) and just last week, with
more to come. This is, indeed, unfortunate. How does BNSF’s return to furloughing square with its exciting new partnership with J.B. Hunt to move millions of truckloads to rail by delivering 95% on time performance? BNSF
recently announced roughly 362 jobs were being furloughed nationwide.
That translated to 38 carmen, four laborers, two building maintenance
workers and one pipefitter being laid off in Lincoln, Nebraska. |
Nebraska Kansas Colorado Railway News |
Nebraska
Kansas Colorado Railway (NKCR) OMLX 420, SD40-3, and OMLX 4016,
GP40-2LW painted Hudson Bay Railway, crossed trestle with five covered
hoppers loaded with fly ash. Train makes weekly Friday trips to
Gerald Gentleman Station coal fueled electrical generation operation
near Sutherland, NE. Train crossed trestle March 15, 2024.
©2024 Chip Nebraska
Public Power District's Gerald Gentleman Station is Nebraska’s largest
electric generating facility. It is consistently ranked as one of
the lowest production-cost electric generation plants in the
nation. Sheldon
Station generates 225 megawatts of electricity. Power generated here is
distributed to Nebraska’s residents through transmission lines leading
to Lincoln, Hastings and Beatrice. |
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ENSCO
is proud to support the Federal Railroad Administration’s (FRA)
Transportation Technology Center (TTC) as the prime contractor
conducting research, engineering, testing, and training as well as
operating and maintaining this important US Department of Transportation
facility. |
| | Click on the above INTERMOUNTAIN CHAPTER NRHS link to go to their website. |
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| | Click on the above COLORADO RAILROAD MUSEUM link to go to their website. |
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